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KINSHASA - Congo's President Joseph Kabila won a presidential election with 58.05 per cent of the votes, according to provisional results today, but the coalition of his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba rejected the result.
International peacekeepers stepped up patrols in the capital, and UN armoured vehicles and jeeps from
a European Union force raced round the streets of Kinshasa where supporters of the candidates have fought twice in the past three months.
"Therefore, having garnered the absolute majority of votes in the second round, Mr Joseph Kabila Kabange is declared president of Democratic Republic of Congo," election commission chief Apollinaire Malu Malu said in a broadcast announcing the results of the October 29 run-off poll.
The result, giving Bemba 41.95 per cent, has to be confirmed by the Supreme Court.
"Our position has not changed. These are results that will never be credible. We will hold a political meeting tomorrow before saying more," said Joseph Olenghankoy, a spokesman for Bemba's Union for the Nation coalition.
Bemba's coalition had already rejected partial results showing Kabila winning. They said there had been "systematic cheating" in the vote count and questioned the credibility of the electoral commission, raising tensions in the city.
It said provisional results conflicted with data collected by its own observers at polling stations showing Bemba had 52.5 per cent of votes.
Kinshasa, whose poor masses largely support Bemba, was quiet apart from small groups of Bemba supporters.
But in eastern towns where Kabila is popular, news of his victory brought large crowds onto the streets.
"It's a huge party here. There are thousands of young people out in the streets. They are dancing and singing," said Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, a UN spokeswoman in Bukavu.
CALL FOR CALM
Kabila said on state television after the result was announced: "I ask you this evening to stay united, living in brotherhood and tolerance, because today's victory is yours."
"I ask you all to stay calm and disciplined."
He said the security forces would ensure people's safety.
Earlier, speaking in his office surrounded by photos of his father Laurent who was shot dead by a bodyguard in 2001, Kabila held out an olive branch to his rival.
"I believe Vice-President Bemba and members of his party have a role to play, if not necessarily in the government then in other institutions, because the effort now must be nation-building, reconstruction," he said.
The historic October 29 vote was the culmination of a peace process to end Congo's 1998-2003 war in which Bemba led a rebel faction before joining a power-sharing government.
Soldiers loyal to the two candidates fought days of street battles in August which killed at least 30 people after the first round results were announced. Four more were killed last Saturday when the two sides clashed once again.
The polls were meant to crown the peace process. Congo's war spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed some 4 million people and aid workers estimate 1,200 still die daily.
The United Nations' biggest peace force of some 17,500 and a special European Union force sent to help secure the city during Congo's first free elections in 40 years have stepped up patrols in the past fortnight to head off any unrest.
- REUTERS